Hitchhiker
by Fairykitten56
Summary: Yukino is driving home from her sister wedding when she sees a hitchhiker on the side of road. Its mid November and freezing so how can she just leave him there, even if he is more than she bargained for...
1. Chapter 1

Rogue stared at the blinding headlights coming towards him and squinted his eyes.

It was late November and freezing.

He held his thumb out at the passing car hoping maybe it would take him to the next town. If there was one thing he hated, it was getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. And on top of that, he couldn't feel his fingers.

...

Yukino cursed herself for being late again. She was let getting to the wedding, and late getting home. "Damnit." She cursed herself for what seemed like the thousandth time since she'd gotten in the car.

Somewhere around 45 minutes out of town she saw someone dressed in all black walking on the side of the road. How she saw them was still not certain.

She slowed her car and idled it beside them. She rolled down the window, "Hey!" she yelled. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Rogue was getting pissed off at the fact that even though someone had stopped, they weren't offering him a ride. He glared into the darkness in front of him. "If you're not going to give me a ride, then just leave me alone. Its not like I have a choice." He mumbled.

Yukino glared at him. "You can't walk on the side of the road in all black clothes."

"Yeah? Says who?" He said distastefully.

"Its the law!" She snapped.

Rogue turned toward her and slammed his hand down on the roof of her car. "I said leave!" He yelled.

Yukino felt a cold rush of wind blow in on her. She shivered. "Get in the car then. I'm not leaving someone out in the cold." She huffed and unlocked the doors.

Rogue glared at her. Why in the hell was her hair so light? He wondered. He opened the passenger door and climbed in.

"That's what I thought." She closed the window and began driving again.

About ten minutes of driving in complete silence, Yukino decided she couldn't take it. She looked over at him and noticed he had his arm folded tight and was shivering. "Do you want me to turn the heater up?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He insisted.

"You're shivering." She stated and turned the heat up. She made sure the vents in front of him were open and pointing at him, glancing back and forth between it and the road. No one was out driving this late except her so she figured it would be okay to look away from the road for a few seconds.

Rogue hated that she was being nice to him. But isn't that what he wanted? To be cared for?

He decided right then that he liked her.

Yukino smiled at the town came into sight, meaning she was only a few blocks away from her house. "Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?"

Rogue didn't want to answer her. He didn't want her pity. He just wanted to be left alone.

"Yes." He said as casually as he could.

"You're lying." Yukino said without even a seconds hesitation.

"Wha-" Rogue looked at her with wide eyes. "No I'm not."

Yukino sighed internally. "Alright then where are you staying?"

Rogue glared at the dashboard in silence.

"You're staying at my place then. Just..."

"What?"

"You're not going to kidnap me in my sleep right?" She asked almost embarrassed.

"If I was going to kidnap you, I would have already done it." He said venomously.

Yukino was hardly comforted by his answer, but decided he was telling the truth. She pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. "Its a one bedroom apartment kind of thing so you're sleeping on the couch." She said as she climber out of the car, locking it when he opened is door.

Rogue followed her and rubbed his hands together as he walked inside.

Yukino shivered as she locked the door. She turned on the light and looked up at Rogue. He was wearing a black, oversized hoodie with his hood up and ripped black jeans.

On first glance he might look menacing but when she looked into his eyes, he looked almost scared.

Yukino walked past him to get a blanket and some pillows for him to use. She pulled a gray blanket off her bed and a pillow. She walked back into the living room where Rogue was still standing in the same place she had left him.

She set the blanket on one end of the couch and the pillow at the other and fluffed it. "Its not much but it should do." She placed her hands on her hips and grimaced, looking at him.

Rogue barley took note of what she was doing, staring blankly at the couch. "Thanks." He mumbled.

Yukino stepped away from the couch and was about to walk down the hall to her bedroom. "Oh hey!" She stopped and turned on her heels. "I haven't gotten your name yet."

Rogue couldn't help but smile despite his best efforts at keeping a straight expression. "Rogue." He said as he turned off the light and sat down on the couch.

"Rogue..." Yukino whispered as she walked down the hall to her bedroom.

Rogue watched her until the door closed.


	2. Chapter 2

Yukino woke up the next morning feeling like she hadn't slept at all. Or maybe that was because of the dream she had. She sat up and squinted her eyes at the light coming in through the window.

She flopped back down and pulled the covers over her head. She groaned and squeezed her eyes tight. She had a fleeting feeling that she was forgetting something. Ohhh, what was is?

Rogue!

She practically leaped out of her bed and scramble to find her leopard print slippers. She shuffled to the door and opened it a silently as she could, slowing down her pace as she crept down the hallway.

Yukino walked into her living room to find the blanket Rogue had been using folded neatly beside the pillow. "Shit shit shit!" She cursed. She grabbed her purse and keys and ran it the door in the pajamas.

...

Rogue walked down the sidewalk and gritted his teeth. What was he doing? He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be anywhere.

He remembered feeling more at home when he was in the middle of nowhere or sitting on the side of a bridge, watching the cars drive by.

Cars...

He was somewhere in the more dense part of the city and cars were going by every few seconds, blowing his hair everytime with a slight breeze. He stopped at a light and waited for the light to turn red before he crossed the road.

 _She was so nice._ Rouge thought nostalgically. _I didn't even get her name._ He closed his eyes for a moment and a whisper of a smile graced his lips. But it vanished when he was most ungraciously yanked out of his thought by a honking car somewhere down the road.

He turned around to see where it was coming from only when he turned around, he saw Yukinos car approaching him quickly.

"Rogue!" She shouted out the drivers side window. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She pulled the car off the road and got out, slamming the door.

Rogue was at a loss for words. It was nine in the morning and here she was, in her pajamas.

"Who the hell do you think you are to just dissappear like that?! Without even saying goodbye! How rude- I can't believe I- You know what? You're an asshole!"

Rogue clenched his fist inside his hoodie pockets. "What the hell are you doing out here?" He asked as calmly as he could manage.

"I could ask you the same thing." She huffed.

"I'm leaving. Isnt that obvious?" Rogue said as he turned away from her and started walking again.

Yukino swore she could feel her blood boiling. "I've been driving around for half an hour looking for you, and this is the thanks I get?"

"I didn't ask you to drive around looking for me. In fcat, I would have perfered if you would have just forgot about me." He muttered under his breath.

"No, but you could have woke me up and told me you were leaving. I deserved that much didn't I?" She crossed her arm and shivered. Her pajama probably wasn't the best thing to be wearing outside in the cold.

Rogue stopped and looked at her. He knew she was right, but it wasnt like he was going to admit it.

"Where are you even going?" She asked.

"Nowhere." He looked at the ground behind her.

"Then why dont you stay here? I'm offering you a place to stay and free food and clothes... Why don't you stay?" She walked over to him as she spoke.

Rogue fixed his vision on her. A million thoughts ran through his mind in only a second. He glared at her. "Because if I stay, someone will get hurt." He growled.

Yukino looked up at him with a sad expression.

Rogue hated that look on her face. I was the look every one had when... "Im threatening you and your not even-"

"You're scared..." She whispered, causing Rogue to stumble back.

"N-no!" He shouted.

"Stop it! Just stop it!" She shouted back. "I know you're trying to act though and all but... You don't have to."

Rogue stared at her with an unreadable expression. _What is with her? She sees through everything without even trying! Just like..._

Rogue gritted his teeth.

"Please come home." Yukino felt tears at the corner of her eyes.

Rogues eyes widened. It took him a moment to figure out it was her house she had reffered to as 'home'. But why? He didn't live there.

Yukino shivered again and felt something being draped around her. It was black and warm and smelled like home. She looked up at Rogue, who was now in nothing but a gray long-sleeved T-shirt.

Yukino blushed and looked down to her feet. "T-thank you." She mumbled and started walking back to her car.

Rogue followed her. "Oh. I haven't gotten your name yet."

"I'm Yukino. It's nice to meet you Rogue." She held out her hand for him to shake.

Rogue ignored her hand and walked to the passenger side of the car, climbing in and sitting down.

Yukino shook her head. She got in and drove them back to her house where she hastily ran to her bedroom to change clothes.

 _Home..._


	3. Chapter 3

Rogue sat down on one of the stools in Yukino's kitcken as she had said only a few moments earlier. She was now wearing a pale blue lace dress over a dark purple shirt and skirt. Well... It couldn't really be considered a dress, just a really long shirt that came to halfway down her thighs.

Yukino swayed slightly as she stirred the scrambled eggs. It was only 10:30 in the morning, so she had decided to make breakfast for them. In all honesty, she liked cooking for someone other than herself. It was lonely only cooking for herself sometimes...

"Alright!" She used the spatula to move the eggs to two plates, serving one to Rogue and the other to the seat beside him where she would sit. She didn't have a table, rather she just had a bar kind of setup.

Rogue stared at the eggs for a moment before actually eating. "Could use some salt," he commented.

Yukino jumped up, he mouth full of eggs. She swallowed, "I have that!" She opened up several cupboards before she found it. "Here you go." She smiled, perhaps a bit too cheerfuly, and held out the salt for him.

 _Weird..._ Rogue thought.

"Soooo... Where are you from?" Yukino asked.

"Nowhere." Rogue answered, forking more eggs into his mouth.

"Well, you must be from somewhere. But I get it if you don't want to tell me. I mean, you barley even know me." She laughed at herself for asking such an intrusive question so soon.

"You have an attachment issue." Rogue pointed out after thinking about everything that had happened in the past 24 hours.

"I what? No, I don't!" She shook her head back and forth. _Where the hell did he get that from?_

"It happenes when you lose someone close to you." He said as if it was common knowledge. For him it was, at least.

"I... I'm sorry." Yukino forced her hands underneath her thighs.

"It's not a bad thing. I used to have it, too." Rogue admitted. "So, what happened to you?" He asked.

"Okay, just to be clear, if I tell you this, you have to tell me where you're from."

Rogue hesitated. He sighed and nodded. _Was knowing what happened really worth it?_

"My sister... Sorano, was kidnapped when we were kids. She protected me, so I was able to get away. But she was... taken by them." Yukino bit her lip to the point it was almost bleeding.

"That sounds pretty fucked up." Rogue finished chewing the last of the eggs she had givin him.

"Yeah." Yukino agreed. "As it turns out, a lot of other kids had been kidnapped other than her and they all grew up together. And, now that they are old enough, they went to the police and they found me. I was the only living relative of anyone who was kidnapped. Well, except Macbeth's father, who was the one who kidnapped everyone." She explained in a rather detatched voice.

Rouge didnt know what to say. His expression softened when he saw she had tears in the corners of her eyes.

Yukino wiped her eyes and smiled. "If it wasn't for my sister, I never would have met you." She looked over at him. "I was on my way back from her wedding when I saw you."

Rogue bit his tongue. Something about those words made him feel...happy. He wasn't so much attached to her in the way she was to him, but he liked her. "I'm from Lancaster," he said quietly.

Yukino looked up at him. "Isn't that in Ohio? You're really far away from there."

Rogue nodded. "That's the idea." He grimaced. "I need a shower. Can I use yours?" he asked, changing the subject.

"S-sure." Yukino nodded and stood up, walking toward the bathroom to show him where it was.

Rouge followed her to the bathroom and stared at her. "Thanks." He said.

Yukino stared into his almost glowing red eyes. _His eyes are so... beautiful._ She thought, the smile disappearing from her face and a blush spreading across her cheeks.

Rogue swallowed and shifted his eyes between the door and her. "I umm- going to get a shower now." He said awkardly.

Yukino blinked her eyes and snapped out of her trance. "Right." She bit her lip and walked to her bedroom. SHe grabbed her phone and dialed her friend, Stings number.

Rogue closed the bathroom door and locked it. He leaned agaist the door for a moment and tried to calm himself. A cold shower. Thats what he needed. He stood up straight and bagan to undress.

He got his hoodie and long sleeved shirt off before he realized he had nothing to change into once he was out.

He unlocked the door and walked down the hall, knocking on Yukinos bedrrom door.

Yukino opened the door, her eyes widening. Rogue had no shirt on and was looking down at her. She swallowed hard when she saw his six pack. "Y-yes?" She stuttered, forcing herself to look into his eyes.

"Do you have anything I can change into?" Rogue asked. He felt his cheeks heat up and tried to hide more of his face behind his hair.

"Yeah." Yukino said quietly, turning around and opeining her closet. She pulled out one of Stings old shirts that he had left at her house once, and a pair of one of her ex boyfriends pants. They werent exactly Rogues style but she decided it was better than walking around in nothing.

Yukino paused. _Or is it...?_

She blushed thinking about it but shook her head and giggled. She carried the clothes over to where Rogue was still waiting in her doorway. "Here." She hel then out.

Rogue grabbed the clothes from her and and smiled slightly. "Thanks." He walked back to the bathroom and locked the door.

Yukino closed the door slowly and leaned against it. She was blushing so much she felt like her face was on fire. His smile was so... so...

She couldn't even describe how perfect it was. She burried her face in her hands and shook her head back and forth.

She hopped back over to her bed and unmuted her phone. "Sting? Sting you still there?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm here. What the hell took so long?"

"Nothing. I just have a friend over." Yukino bit her lip.

"A friend hu? What kind of _friend_?" Sting asked suggestivly.

"A guy." She said just to see how it would sound. "But its not what you think." She said almost sadly.

"Uh hu, whatever you say." Sting laughed.

"Whatever. Anyways, can we like, do something later? I really want you to meet Rogue." She said excidedly.

"Yea sure. _Thats_ why you wanna see me."

"Sting. Don't. I don't like you like that." She sighed. "Rogue is a really nice person and I want you to meet him. Thats all." She assured him.

"Oh I see how it is." Sting said dramatically. "You're in love with him and not me." He fake pouted.

Yukino laughed. "How about the park at say... two?" She asked.

"Sure. See you then."

Yukino hung up and set her phone down gently. She rolled onto her back and stared at the celing. She was excided for this afternoon but for right now, all she could think about was Rogue.

She rolled onto her stomach and smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Rogue finished drying himself off with one of the towels in Yukino's bathroom. It was a pale pink; though, he paid no mind to it. He pulled on the clothes she loaned to him. It was a forest green polo shirt and dark blue jeans that were a size too small on him.

He jumped up and down trying to get the jeans comfortable. When he finally managed to get them up to his waist, he zipped them up and buttoned them.

Rogue unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out, carrying his dirty clothes and walking stiffly. _Curse these pants!_

Yukino walked out of her bedroom and saw Rogue walking into the living room. "Oh, you're out." She called and picked up her speed.

Rogue spun around. "Yeah." He watched her as she all but skipped over to stand in front of him. "I was wondering where your laundry is."

"It's past the kitchen, the little room on the right." She pointed her finger over her shoulder.

Rogue stared at her with one eyebrow raised, nodding his understanding when she finished. He walked past her, careful not to bump into her, and set off for the laundry room.

"Oh," she turned around. "We're going out in a little bit. Be ready." She called to him as she disappeared into the bathroom.

Rogue huffed as he tossed his clothes into the washing machine. He grew extremely frustrated with trying to measure how much laundry detergent to put in it, but instead ended up dropping the whole gallon into the washer. He scrambled to pick it up, capping it and setting it back down on top of the dryer. It felt significantly lighter than it had a moment ago, but he started the washer anyway.

Rogue peeked around the corner to make sure Yukino hadn't seen the accident. He sighed with relief and stepped out of the cramped laundry room. He walked to the bathroom and knocked on the closed door. "Where are we going?"

Yukino opened the bathroom door and was face to face with him. She felt her face flush as she stared up at his irritated expression, the smell of soap rolling off him in waves. "We're meeting my friend at the park at two. Maybe getting something to eat."

Rogue brushed his hair out of his eyes. It was still wet and clung to his face in a damp heap, bothering him to no end. He looked down at her with both eyes, his right slightly out of focus due to being behind his hair all the time, but when he noticed the bright pink blush on her cheeks, he took a step back.

Yukino felt like her cheeks were on fire. He was so much more handsome, not to mention intimidating, when his hair was out of his eyes. She stared at his right cheek. It was almost completely covered in a dark colored scar.

She suddenly wanted to touch it, but swallowed her urge when he stepped back. "I-I'm getting ready, but we'll leave in a few minutes." She stuttered.

Rogue nodded numbly and leaned up against the wall waiting for her to finish, his hair falling back over his face.

Completely forgetting the door was open and the fact the Rogue was watching her, Yukino returned to the task of putting on her make-up, drawing an almost perfect line on her left eyelid and a not-so-perfect line on the right, causing her to go over it again making it darker which she also had to do to the other side.

Thoroughly frustrated, her fingers slipped and her eyeliner drew a black line half way down her cheek. She grumbled and wiped at it with a paper towel.

Rogue laughed under his breath. He had never watched a girl put make-up on, and he figured he should do it more often. This was quite an entertaining sight.

"What are you laughing at?" Yukino asked him with exacerbation, turning toward him and crossing her arms in a childish manner.

 _Or, maybe not._

"Nothing." He crossed his arms and took a deep breath, pretending not to be interested in what she was doing.

Yukino rolled her eyes and looked back into the mirror. After wiping away the eyeliner on her cheek, she brushed her lashes with mascara and finished with a touch of powder base.

She turned off the light and brushed past Rogue, walking into the living room and grabbing her keys for a second time this morning. She picked up her purse and pulled out her lip gloss, leaning toward the mirror and applying a thin layer. She rubbed her lips together and looked over at Rogue, who still had his arms crossed and was staring at her reflection.

"How do I look?" She asked.

 _Beautiful,_ is what came to mind, but he stopped himself from saying that. "You look fine." He shook his head, his hair flailing from side to side.

Yukino smiled and opened the door, stepping out and waiting for Rogue to pass her so she could lock the door behind him. She pressed the 'unlock' button on her keys and her parking light flash on her silver Toyota.

She sat down in the driver's side and pulled her phone from her purse, reading the time. "Humph." She slouched in her seat. "It's only twelve thirty. Do you have anything you need to do?"

Rogue closed his door and shook his head. "Nope."

Yukino sighed. "Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Not really." He said impassively.

"Well, I guess we could always go to the park early and wait for him." Yukino turned the car on and pulled out of the driveway.

Rogue stared out the window at the passing dead trees that lined the sidewalk in her neighborhood...

 _"Rogue! Rogue, the leaves are so pretty!"_

 _"So orange."_

 _"This means winter's almost here!"_

 _"Yeah."_

"Rogue?" Yukino glanced over at him, concern etched into her expression.

Rogue snapped out of his revere. "What?"

"I don't know... I was asking you a question but you just sort of spaced out for a minute there. You okay?"

"Sorry. Yeah, I'm fine."

Yukino wanted to question him further about his spacing out but decided she would ask her previous question. "So, I was asking, what's your last name?"

Rogue looked at her cautiously. "Cheney." He answered.

"That's a nice name." She smiled.

"What's yours?" He asked, thinking it only fair to know hers if she knew his.

"Aguria." She said in a small voice.

"Okay." He nodded. "Anything else you wanna know?"

"Ummm..." She stuttered. "Why were you hitchhiking?" She asked after a moment of thought.

"To get away." Rogue stared at the road in front of them.

Yukino glanced over at him. "Get away from what?" She questioned softly.

Rogue clenched his jaw, not fully ready to admit what he was running from, even to himself.

Yukino grimaced.

They drove the rest of the ride in silence, save for the background music of the radio.

Yukino pulled into the parking lot and switched the car off. She opened the door and pressed the 'lock' button on her keychain after Rogue opened his door.

"What are we even supposed to be doing here? Your friend's not supposed to show up for another hour, right?" Rogue leaned against the car and tried to shove his hands into his pockets, only to find that the pockets were too small.

Yukino giggled as she watched him. "Were they too small?"

"By a size or five." Rogue joked.

"Well, maybe next time I'll get a boyfriend in your size." She said without thinking. Her eyes widened with realization and she blushed, leaning against the car beside him.

Rogue stared at her and pursed his lips.

"The shirt fits nicely though." She commented, staring at the lake that took up most of the park.

"It would seem that the boyfriend who owned this was my size."

"He wasn't my boyfriend." She said almost too quickly.

Rogue was stunned into silence. "O-okay."

Yukino mentally scolded herself and huddled into her jacket. _He's not going to want to stay if he thinks I'm psycho._

She looked back over at Rogue, an idea springing into her head. "Would you like to walk with me?"

Rogue nodded. "Sure. Why not." He pushed himself off the car and walked beside her into the park.

"Soooo..." Yukino flexed her hands in her jacket pockets.

"Hmm?" Rogue stared off into the distance.

"Are you sure you're warm enough without a jacket?" She looked up at him.

"I'm fine." He took a deep breath. "But, that's not what you were going to ask." He said matter-of-factly.

Yukino opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She closed it and reopened it a moment later. "No."

"So just ask me the question you want to know." Rogue said in an annoyed tone.

"Where did you get the scar on your face?" She asked quickly and held her breath. _Will he answer this one or is that too personal?_

Rogue hesitated, even his stride seemed to falter for a second.

"I'm sorry. That was too personal. I shouldn't have asked that."

"It's... It's fine," he mumbled. "I was pushed." He said, touching the scar with his fingers.

"Pushed? Like, you were bullied or something?"

Rogue grimaced, his expression ever deepening until Yukino could no longer make out what he was feeling. "No. I..."

"You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable." Yukino said gently, leading them over to a picnic table. Yukino sat down beside Rogue and leaned her elbows on the table.

Rogue felt like he had to tell her. After all, if he was going to be staying with her, she should know.

About...

But he just couldn't bring himself to tell her; to say it out loud even.

Instead he laid his head down in his arms on the picnic table, closing his eyes, trying to make the blood disappear from his memory.

Her face...

Her body...

The dents...

The screaming...

The tears...

And the blood...

Everywhere.

 _Blood_.


	5. Chapter 5

_"Rogue. Rogue, wake up." Her voice was gentle and welcoming._

 _Rogue opened his eyes and stared into her pitch black ones._

 _She smiled, her green bangs falling into her eyes. She brushed them away and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet._

 _"What time is it?" He asked, yawning._

 _"Sunrise." She answered and dragged him to his bedroom widow, opening it and crawling out onto the roof._

 _Rogue climbed out and sat down beside her._

 _"It's still dark out. Why did you wake me up? I was in the middle of a good dream, too." He whined playfully._

 _She crossed her arms and pointed her nose in the air. "Fine then. Go back to bed. I just wanted to watch the sunrise with my friend. Jeeze."_

 _Rogue snorted at her attitude. "I'm up. I'm up." He sighed and stretched to prove his point._

 _She smiled._

 _"Why didn't you just wake up your boyfriend?" Rogue asked in a mockingly. "I'm sure he would have watched the sunrise with you."_

 _She sighed and shook her head. "I tried to wake him but he sleeps like a hibernating bear."_

 _Rogue raised an eyebrow at her odd reference. "Whatever," he shrugged._

 _They stared at the horizon waiting for the sun to rise, making small talk and laughing occasionally._

 _"Rogue! Rogue, look!"_

 _"I am!" He barked, laughing as he did._

 _"It's so pretty!" She stared at the horizon with a dreamy look in her eyes._

 _"It's just the sun." Rogue stared with disinterest._

 _"You could at least act excited." She pouted._

 _Rogue sighed, suddenly looking at her and raising his hands and waving them in the air in front of her. "It's so_ pretty _!" He said in mock excitement._

 _They both burst out laughing._

 _"Rogue. Rogue, wake up."_

 _ **"Rogue. Rogue, wake up."**_

"Rogue. Rogue, wake up."

Rogue opened his eyes and stared into her creamy brown ones.

"Rogue, wake up." Yukino shook his shoulder again.

Rogue looked away from her and saw a man with messy blond hair and sky blue eyes sitting in front of him. He sat up instantly.

"We must have fallen asleep," Yukino blushed and looked down to where her hands were knotted in her lap. "This is Sting." She mumbled.

Rogue blinked his eyes a few time and looked away from Yukino. He stared at Sting who was smiling like a fool.

"Hello," Sting greeted. "I'm Sting and you are...?"

"This is Rouge." Yukino smiled brightly upon saying his name. She was excited, perhaps overly so, to introduce the two.

"Cheating on me, are you?" Sting laughed and Yukino rolled her eyes.

"No."

Rogue forced a smile. He didn't know that they were dating and for some reason, he wanted to just leave. Either that or punch the guy. Sting just got on his nerves and he couldn't reason why.

Yukino felt her heart rate increase. Maybe because of the absolutely stunning smile Rogue had or the fact that this was getting extremely awkward, she didn't know, but she knew she had to do something quick before she either threw herself at Rogue or ran back to her car.

Rogue sighed. "So, Yukino? What now?"

Yukino buried her face in her hands. "No. No. No. You two are supposed to talk and then we would all be friends!" She said exasperatedly. "At least that's what I thought was going to happen."

"Well, I'm Sting Eculiffe and you are Rogue, Yukino's friend. So, how did you guys meet?" Sting interjected, not wanting to sour Yukino's mood any more than it already was.

Rogue hesitated at the sudden change of direction the conversation was headed.

Yukino looked up at Rouge and waited for him to tell Sting, smiling crookedly.

"I was hitchhiking." Rouge said simply.

"That's not everything." Yukino swatted his arm lightly.

Rogue looked over at her with a pained expression. He didn't know this 'Sting' person at all and now she wanted him to explain to him, in detail apparently, how they had met? He sighed again.

"Okay, so, I was on the way back from Sorano's wedding and I was late getting back and I don't know what possessed me to stop, but Rogue here," she glanced over at Rogue and continued talking, "was walking along the side of the road with his thumb out." Yukino launched herself into the story, her head in her hands and she propped her elbows on the table.

Rogue had both eyebrows raised, though you could only see one, as he listened to Yukino recount the story. He figured she had feeling for him, judging by how openly she talked with him.

"Sorano got married?!" Sting asked alarmed.

Yukino nodded frantically. "Didn't I tell you? She got engaged to Macbeth a few months ago, remember?"

Sting shook his head. "No, sorry."

Yukino looked over at Rouge. She figured he would be so bored he would be falling out of his seat by now, but judging by his expression, he seemed quite interested in what they had to say. "So Rogue, how long had you been hitchhiking before I picked you up?"

Rogue thought about her question before answering. "A few months, I guess."

"Where you from?" Sting asked, rubbing his hands together and breathing hot air on them.

"Lancaster." He answered.

"Ohio?" Stings eyes lit up. "Me too! Born and raised. Wait, don't tell me you're _that_ Rogue?"

A confused expression plastered Rogues expression and Yukino just stared at Sting, her mouth open slightly.

"You two know each other?" She asked, appalled.

"Lector's girlfriend's friend, right?"

Rogue held his breath and nodded stiffly. "I know Lector, yes."

"Oh my gosh, this is such a small world." Sting shook his head and smiled. "Lector was my best friend all through high school."

Yukino almost screamed with joy. _They know each other…well, Sting knows who Rouge is, but still!_ She squeezed her eyes and shook her head trying to wrap her head around it all. This was too good to be true!

"Oh man! What ever happened to him? We lost touch after I moved, well... We've had a few phone calls, but not recently." Sting crossed his arms on the table.

"He's good." Rogue answered, feeling like he needed to leave before Sting asked anything more about where he was from.

Rogue looked over at Yukino with a pained expression. "I'm kind of hungry." He lied.

Yukino blinked. "We could all go to that Subway a few miles from here." She suggested glancing back and forth between Sting and Rogue.

Rogue nodded and was soon followed by Sting. They stood up and walked back to their cars, Yukino walking between them, making small talk.

Rogue climbed into Yukino's car and waited for her.

"So?" She asked excitedly as she slipped into the car and started it.

"He's nice." Rogue said flatly.

Yukino's expression fell. "You don't like him?"

Rogue looked over at her, a grimace on his lips.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled as she put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking space she was in, switching to drive and pulling out of the parking lot with Sting close behind her.

"It's fine." Rogue said.

"No. I shouldn't have made you come with me," she sighed. "Whatever."

Rogue didn't know how to respond. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to go, but he went anyway because he didn't want to seem like a burden to her.

Yukino slowed the car and pulled into the Subway.

Rogue welcomed the heat of the restaurant since he had no jacket. He ordered a tuna sub and waited for the woman behind the counter to finish making it, along with Yukino's and Sting's.

Yukino paid and they all sat down in a table by the window, with Yukino sitting on the booth beside Sting and Rogue on the other side. Rogue ate in silence while Yukino and Sting chatted away about one thing or another.

Yukino stood up from the table. "I have to use the restroom. Behave, you two." She giggled and walked to the bathroom.

"You like her." Sting said as soon as the door to the ladies room shut.

"No." Rogue said aggressively.

"Yes, you do." He laughed. "I can tell."

Rogue shook his head, trying to make sense of things. "But I thought you and her were dating or whatever."

Sting took in a deep breath. "Nah. I liked her once and we dated for a month or so but she said she just couldn't get into it."

"But you made that crack about her cheating on you earlier." Rogue reasoned.

"I still make fun of her for it occasionally." Sting smirked and took a drink from his Sprite.

Rogue closed his eyes and shook his head. _What a hassle._

"But you do like her, right?" Sting looked at him confident that he was right.

Rogue stared out the window at a passing truck. He wasn't going to admit to anything, but he also didn't deny anything either.

"Well, whether you do or not, she likes you." Sting sat back and crossed his legs.

Rogue looked at Sting with a skeptical look.

"I've never seen her like this," Sting laughed nostalgically and looked out the window. "What I wouldn't have gave for her to act like this when we were dating."

Sting remembered how red Yukino had blushed when he had found the two asleep in the park. Rogue had his face buried in his arms folded on the table and Yukino leaning against his shoulder. It was...cute at first but then the pain had hit him. His stomach turning and his chest tightening.

Sting had been jealous and it had been bad. It took him a whole five minutes before he could calm down enough to even wake her, and by then he had decided to just play it off cool as if he didn't care.

"Sorry." Rogue said under his breath.

"It's cool. I don't like her like that anymore," he lied. "We're just friends."

Yukino walked out of the bathroom and made her way back to the table. "So? What did I miss?"

"Nothing really." Sting said nonchalantly, glancing over at Rogue who rolled his eyes.

Yukino shrugged and took a sip of her chocolate milk.

Rogue chuckled.

"What?" Yukino snapped.

"You look like a kid drinking that." He tried to suppress his smile but when he saw Yukino glaring he laughed out loud.

Sting clenched his jaw watching them. It was sweet but sickening at the same time. _Bittersweet,_ he though.

Yukino glared at Rogue and the longer she did, the more he laughed. She silently hoped that she could maintain the glare for as long as possible, wanting to hear his laugh as long as she could. But seeing him with his eyes squeezed shut and his lips pulled tightly over his teeth in a drop-dead smile, she couldn't contain herself.

Sting took another sip of his drink and checked the time on his phone. It was already 4:15

"Hey, I hate to break up the fun," Sting waited for them to quiet down before he continued. "I've gotta get home. Minerva is supposed to be coming over at five." He explained and Yukino nodded.

They all walked out of the Subway and to their cars. Sting hugged Yukino and kissed her cheek (in a friendly way, though, Rogue would have rather not have seen that at all).

"So what did you and Sting talk about while I used the restroom?" Yukino asked, a playful smile pulling at her lips as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Didn't you already ask that?" Rogue smiled and crossed his arm, shivering.

Yukino glanced over at his skeptically but when she saw him shiver, she felt almost compelled to touch him...or something, anything, to make him stop. He was just so... So... So damn cute, in an absolutely messed up way, when he did that.

"Do want me turn the heat up?" She asked.

Rogue stayed silent. He _did_ but he didn't want to ask.

Yukino rolled her eyes and turned it up.

Rogue smiled as he stared out the window. That was one of the things he liked about her; she knew, even when he didn't say anything, she just knew.

Wait. What was he thinking? Thinking things like that were only going to make him like her and prove Sting right! He wasn't sure if he want to, though.

"Seriously, what did you two talk about? I'm not going to stop asking until you tell me."

Rogue sighed dramatically. "It was just some stuff about Lector," he clenched his jaw, taking in a deep breath. "It was nothing important."

"Sure." Yukino smirked, the word drenched in sarcasm.

"I'm serious!" Rogue raised his hands.

"Sure." She smiled and shook her head.

"Whatever." Rogue rolled his eyes and went back to staring out the window.

Yukino giggled to herself. After a few minutes of silence, though, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Do you mind if I turn the radio on?" She spoke up, wrenching Rogue from his thought.

"Go ahead." He said quietly, watching as she pressed a knob on the console and turned a dial. The music faded in from nowhere and was playing a sad sounding piano bit.

Yukino's eyes lit up. "I can't believe they're actually playing this! They never play this!"

"What is it?" Rogue asked, a woman's voice starting to sing.

" _When You're Gone_ by Avril Lavigne. I love this song, but it's old, so it's not played on the radio that much." She hummed with the tune.

Rogue nodded slowly, resting his head against the back of the seat and listening to the song.

Yukino had a mind to just start singing, but seeing as how she hadn't known Rogue for very long, she didn't know how he would react. She aslo was extremely self concious about her singing.

What started as her humming to the tune turned into her softly mumbling the words which, by the second verse, she was singing along.

Rogue closed his eyes and listen to her sing. She put her own twist on the words, adding notes and stretching words. It was, in simple terms, beautiful. He idly wondered why she wasn't the one on the radio. If she had the mind to, she probably could.

"Can I?" Rogue asked once the song finished and reached his hand to the 'channels' dial but not quite touching it.

"Sure." Yukino nodded, blushing.

Rogue turned the dial until he found the channel he usually listened to. The opening chords to _Painkiller_ were playing.

"I love this one!" Yukino spoke up, all but bouncing in the seat with joy.

"Seriously?" Rogue asked, genuinely surprised. He hadn't thought of her as the kind of person to listen to music like that.

"Yeah. I listen to pretty much all kinds of music." She bit her lip.

Rogue smiled and Yukino restarted the cycle of humming and mumbling.

"Sing with me!" She said before she gave herself to overthink.

Rogue took in a deep breath, considering her proposition. He shrugged after a few seconds and began mumbling the words with her, but as Yukino got louder, so did he.

By the time the song finished, they were both singing loudly while Yukino drove and bobbed her head in time with the beat while Rogue was air drumming.

They both laughed as the sing ended just she pulled into her driveway and turned the car off.

"You're amazing at singing." Yukino settled herself enough to speak.

"You, too." He replied.

Yukino stared over at Rogue, a smile almost splitting her face in two.

Rogues smile was crooked, showing off his pointy canine on his right side and even some of his gums above it while the most you could see on the left was the point of his canine.

The tension in the air was so thick, Yukino swore it was choking her as they both sat in silence, staring at each other.

Rogue broke the stare and climbed out of the car. He was sure that if he didn't move when he did, Sting would have been absolutely correct. He closed the door and leaned against her car, trying to catch his breath.

Yukino blinked a few times and shook her head, hitting herself in the forehead with her hand.

 _I'm such an idiot. I'm such an idiot. I'm such an idiot. I'm such an idiot._

She climbed out of the car and locked it, fumbling to find the key to her house in the dim light. She unlocked her door and walked in, Rogue following closely behind her.

Rogue stepped inside and was instantly overwhelmed a strong cent of laundry soap.

Yukino sniffed the air and gave Rogue a questioning look.

Rogue shook his head and shrugged, answering her unspoken question.

They slowly walked toward her kitchen and upon flicking on the light, Yukino gasped and covered her mouth.

"Oh my god!" She stared wide eyed at her kitchen floor. It was covered in at least two inches of water with the occasional cluster of bubbles floating atop.

Rogue stared in shock. He remembered more laundry soap going into the machine than was needed but he didn't thing something like _this_ was going to happen.

Yukino stared for another five seconds before she hastily turned around and set her things down. She slipped off her shoes and made her way back over to where Rogue was watching her. She glared at him.

Rogue grimaced. "I'm so-"Rogue started but was cut off when Yukino tried stepping into the water and ended up slipping, and, in a moments panic to try and stay upright, turned toward him and grabbed at his arm. Rogue was pulled forward and tried to catch himself (and Yukino) by stepping forward to brace himself. But, because of the soapy and profoundly slippery tile floor of her kitchen; he too, slipped and was sent crashing into the water.

He managed to get on arm around her so she wouldn't hit the ground too hard, and brace the landing with his other arm.

Yukino gasped at the cold water that soaked her legs and behind, but what startled her most was the fact that Rogue had her pressed up against him with one arm, preventing her from falling the rest of the way in the water.

She blushed and held her breath at the extremely erotic position they were in.

Rogue had both knees on the floor in betwen Yukinos legs, holding them both up with one arm and one wrapped around her securely.

"You okay?" Rogue looked down at her, unable to think of anything else to do at the moment.

Yukino nodded, looking up at him. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out, forgetting all her previous ire towards him, she took in a sharp intake of air.

Rogue held his breath. The look in her eyes was slowly emptying his head of anything resembling words and coherent thought. He pulled back and sat back on his legs, reluctantly letting her go.

Yukino propped her arms behind her so she wouldn't fall backwards, never looking away from him, seemingly entranced by his crimson eyes. She tentatively reached forward and laid her hands on his chest, glancing down at his lips and then back to his one visible eye.

She wasn't entirely sure where she was going with this, but she stopped worrying about that when Rogue grabbed her wrists and slowly pulled her hands away from him.

He stood up and stepped back, giving her room to stand up also.

"I'm sorry." Yukino mumbled.

Rogue tried to hide beneath his hair more so than he already was. He said nothing.

"We should clean this up." She said quietly and glanced over her shoulder at the flood, unsure if she praised it because it caused Rogue to fall on top of her, or if she hated it because he rejected her.

 _But that wasn't the waters fault,_ she reasoned, _it was mine._

She turned around and tried crossing her kitchen once more without slipping. She managed to keep her balance and grabbed every towel she owned out of the laundry room and threw them into the water.

Rogue watched her with a pained expression. He didn't reject her because he wanted to, but because he felt he had to. He liked her, he admitted. He like her a _lot._

And that frightened him. The last time he had gotten attached to someone...

Rogue swallowed hard, needing to do something to get his mind off Yukino. He grabbed a few of the towels and spread them across the water, soaking most of it up.

Yukino helped, keeping her back turned to him. Because Rogue had been so good at reading her, she feared that if she looked at him, he would see right through her mask.

They finished quickly and put the wet towels in the washer, making sure that the proper amount of laundry detergent was used.

Rogue tried his hardest not to look at her. She always had a sixth sense about how he was feeling, and right now, he didn't need her to tell him that he was upset. And confused. And just about every other emotion.

Yukino yawned. "I'm gonna go to sleep. Ummm..."

Rogue stared down at the white tile floor of her kitchen, avoiding eye contact.

"Do you need an extra blanket? It's going to get really cold tonight." She said quietly, trying to keep her voice from betraying her.

"I'll be fine, thanks." Rogue said more harshly than he wanted.

Yukino bit her lip hard, trying to keep the tears from pooling in her eyes. This was so stupid! Why was she acting like this?! She barley even knew him and she was already acting as if she had been rejected by someone she loved.

She didn't love him.

No way.

Impossible.

Yukino nodded reluctantly, turning and walking into her bedroom.

Rogue watched her until she disappeared down the hall. He waited for the sound of her door shutting before he finally as down, his elbows on his knees and his hands covering his face.

 _This is my fault,_ he ran his fingers through his hair, _I shouldn't have done that. I'm such an_ _ **idiot!**_ He felt the need to hit something. Hard.

Yukino changed into her pajamas, a long sleeved button up made of cotton and loose pants to match. She crawled into bed and barryed her face in the pillow. _The pillow!_

Yukino grabbed the pillow and the blanket sitting at the foot of her bed and quietly opened her bedroom door, tip-toeing down the hall. She stopped at the corner and looked out at the couch where Rogue was still sitting in the same position.

Her chest tightened painfully. _This was all her fault._

Rogue glanced over at the hallway, no expecting any one to be there, but when he saw Yukino holding the pillow and blanket he had used the night before.

Yukino rushed forward once Rogue saw her, no wanting to look like she had been standing there watching him. That would be creepy.

"I, uhhh, forgot that these were in my room," she set the pillow down and placed the blanket on top of it. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"Would you quit saying that?" Rogue said before he could think better of it.

Yukino looked at him with a confused expression.

Rogue finally looked up at her, "Quit saying you're sorry."

Yukino looked down at where his feet were almost touching hers. "Sorr-" She stopped herself. The least she could do was respect his requests.

Rogue clenched his teeth together. She shouldn't be the one saying sorry; he should.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly, shocking Yukino.

"For-for what?" She stuttered.

"For pushing you away." He pushed the words out.

Yukino sat down on the couch beside him, their legs and arms touching. "It was my fault. If I hadn't grabbed you-"

"If you hadn't grabbed me, I would have grabbed you." He said before she could finish.

Yukino leaned against him and closed her eyes. "Thank you."

Rogues eyes softened. His whole body tensed, she was _freezing._

"You're freezing!"

Yukino shivered. "And you're warm."

Rogue reached around her and grabbbed the blanket, spreading it over her shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her closer to him.

Yukino silently wished she could stay cold forever. That maybe if she did, he would never let her go. She smiled at the thought and absentmindedly rested her hands on his chest, just below where her head was leaning on his shoulder.

They stayed like this for a long time. Yukino had fallen asleep and Rogue played with a strand of her hair. He looked down at her and sighed. If he was even going to get any sleep tonight, he was going to have to take her back into her room.

He wedged one arm under her knees and lifted her up. He held his breath as she subconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck, her warm breath grazing against his neck.

He carefully carried her down the hall and pushed open her bedroom door and walking over to her bed. He laid her down and puled the covers over her even though she still had the blanket she was going to give him still wrapped around her.

 _His blanket!_ Rogue was about to walk out the door when he realized he had no blanket. _Fuck._

He stared at the door for a moment longer, closing it and turning around. He walked around the bed and slid under the covers, his back to her.

"Rogue?" Yukino asked sleepily.

He froze but when she didn't move for a minute, he turned over to see her sleeping peacefully. She said his name in her sleep? What?

"Rogue?" She said again, but this time it sounded more like a cry, her face twisting into a pained expression. "Rogue, where are you?"

Rogue stared at her in a panic.

"Rogue?" She cried again, a quiet sob following his name.

"Shhh." He whispered, reaching over and finding her hand under the convers.

She instantly quieted.

Rogue closed his eyes tight, beyond tired and unable to sleep.

She was dreaming about him?

She was calling out his name in her sleep?

She liked him?

Rogue took a deep breath and tried to stop the questions floating through his head, failing terribly.

He couldn't get close to her.

He wouldn't.


	6. Chapter 6

Yukino rolled over in her sleep, causing Rogue to groan and readjust.

Wait.

What?

Yukino opened her eyes as best she could manage and saw something green and blurry. She groaned and blinked her eyes several times, bringing them into focus.

She looked up. One button... Two buttons... And a third one undone. Then there was darkness. No wait. It was a shadow. And black hair.

 _Rogue?_ Her insides trembled with giddiness.

She shuffled against him, her body springing to attention when she realized his arms were around her and his legs tangled with hers. A smile split her face in two and she pressed her face into the warmth of his chest.

He had been spooning her but since she turned over, she was free to wrap her arms around him as well.

She rested her forehead against his collarbone so his chin was on the top of her head. She hooked her arm around him and pulled him tight, breathing a relieved sigh when he didn't wake.

She closed her eyes and contentedly, if not overwhelmingly happy, fell back into a dreamless sleep.

...

Rogue opened his eyes against the bright light and instantly regretted it.

Light was pouring in from the window behind him and illuminating the entire room in a blueish yellow color. He held his eyes open for a moment, wondering why he was so comfortably warm.

Rogue looked down and saw the familiar mess of bleach blond- almost white -hair. His eyes widened. _At what point in the night had they_ _ **cuddled**_ _?!_

He tried moving away from her, but when he noticed her arms were wrapped around him tightly, as if not wanting him to move, he stopped and sighed deeply. The only thing he could do at this point was wake her.

"Yukino?" He whispered roughly, though, he'd intended to speak, his voice was never willing to cooperate in the morning.

He cleared his throat and tried again, shaking her slightly. "Yukino."

She moaned, hugging herself tighter to him.

He almost lost his resolve but managed to control himself. "Yukino, wake up."

She opened her eyes and squinted against the light, much like he had not even five minutes ago.

"Rogue?" She mumbled, looking up at him and smiling as if she had done it a million times; as if she didn't find it the least bit strange that they were _cuddling_. "Morning." She yawned.

Rogue wasn't sure how to respond. Well... His body already was but his brain was at a loss. How was he supposed to react to this? _"Good morning."_ , _"You look beautiful."_ , _"Can I fuck you?"_

Rogue closed his eyes and tried to rid himself of the vulgar thoughts running through his head. _Kissing her... Touching her... Feeling her..._ Using her.

He promptly untangled himself from her and sat up, pushing his legs over the side of the bed and tried to cover himself as best he could.

Yukino giggled, only slightly discouraged by his abrupt withdrawal. But she knew why. And not even she was ready for something like that to happen.

She sighed and stretched, purposefully pulling her arms behind her and pressing her breasts forward hoping he would look back at her.

And he did; he immediately blushed and turned away.

Yukino swatted his arm playfully and hopped up. "You want anything for breakfast?"

Rogue _did_ want something to eat but... maybe right now wasn't the best time.

"Yeah... In a little while?" He asked warily.

Yukino giggled knowingly, "Sure," she nodded and sauntered out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Rogue sighed in relief. He was finally alone. _But for how long_ , he wondered.

He stood up and fixed his pants - _Holy fuck_ they were tight - and looked around her room. He thought that maybe if he ever wanted to be comfortable with her was to get to know her better. And what better way to do that than snoop around in her room?

He walked over to her powder blue dresser and looked at the various things that were scattered atop it - two hairbrushes, one almost completely used deodorant, a mood ring, hand lotion with a folded piece of paper beneath it, and a framed picture of Yukino standing beside another girl that looked similar to her who was linked arms with a man.

He assumed the girl was Yukino's sister and the man bust be her husband. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and none of this helped him.

"Having fun?" Yukino crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe.

Rogue turned around, startled. "I was just looking around." He said as innocently as possible.

Yukino's eyes trailed down his body and stopped at the bulge in his pants. _Geeze, that looks like it hurts..._

"You should probably change into something not so tight. Actually," she giggled as his cheeks took on a dark scarlet color. She walked into her closet and pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a long sleeved, baggy shirt for Rogue to wear. "You can wear these. I was wondering why you didn't cha-" Yukino sneezed once, twice, thrice, "Excuse me. I was wondering why you didn't change out of those last night."

She sneezed again.

Rogue looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "These just have some dust on them." She assured.

He didn't really believe her but instead he said, "Okay." He glanced down, his hair covering his entire nose.

"You should change. I'm going to go make breakfast. I'll put yours in the microwave." She patted him on the arm. "Take as long as you need." She smiled and trotted out of the room.

Rogue was confused. _What...?_

 _...Oh my god!_

"Yukino!" He yelled down the hall. He heard her laugh and rolled his eyes, unbuttoning his pants and pulling them down, relieved that the pressure - well, most of it anyways - was gone.

He pulled on the black sweatpants and took off his shirt, shivering at the loss of warmth and hurriedly pulling on the long-sleeved shirt.

Rogue laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. What else could he do? _Nothing until this damned boner goes away_ , he thought disdainfully.

He sat up and looked around the room, his eyes stopping on her bedside table. He pulled out the top drawer and found a yellow notebook that was fraying at the edges and looked old. He pulled it out and cautiously opened the notebook and flipped through it.

It was pages and pages of writing. Just notes and short stories. It didn't seem like there was anything important about it, but two words caught his eye. _Bad luck._

He read the entry:

 _I went to the train tracks again today. I keep telling myself I'm going to do it. But I just can't. Why am I even here? Why am I even writing this? I should be dead. I should have been the one who died, not that innocent lady. It feels like everywhere I go, I only bring bad luck to people. I was outside the store earlier and I was waiting for the red light so I could cross the road, but when I tried to cross the road, there was a head-on collision in the road beside me._  
 _And it's my fault, because I was too impatient. I should have waited for all the cars to stop._  
 _The lady that was in the car died and the other lady is in the hospital._  
 _If those cars had been heading for me, I wouldn't have moved._

The entry ended there.

Rogue's eyes were wide with shock. He didn't know what to think. Yukino always seemed to be so happy. Around him she was so alive and full of spirit. Around him...

Could he be the reason for her change of attitude toward herself? How old was this notebook anyways.

Rogue closed the notebook and placed it back into its drawer, closing it quietly.

He regretted looking through her things. He regretted finding that notebook.

His boner was long gone so he decided to get out of her room as fast as he could. He walked swiftly to the door and walked through without a moment's hesitation.

Yukino was swaying her hips as she cooked but now, to him, it looked almost sad.

He had the sudden compulsion to walk up behind her and hug her. It was strange and overwhelming. Instead of finding reasons why to not hug her, which would have been easy, he did it anyway.

Yukino squealed as his arms wrapped around her middle and rested his chin on her shoulder. "R-rogue." She turned her head so her nose was pressed up against his ear. "What are you doing?" She asked breathlessly.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I believe this is called hugging." He smirked.

Yukino stirred the bacon she had cooking. "O-okay." She blushed. "You seem quite bold this morning," she commented and glanced at him.

Rogue shrugged and hesitantly let her go, making his way over to a barstool and sitting down.

Yukino forked the bacon onto a plate covered in paper towels and watched as Rogue sat down, leaning his chin on his palm.

"The clothes suit you."

"Yeah. Yours, too." He ran his fingers through his hair only for it to fall back in his face.

"I haven't changed since yesterday though." She looked at him questioningly.

Rogues eyebrows rose. He hadn't noticed she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday. "Well, you look good in it no matter if it's from yesterday or last week." He said nonchalantly.

Yukino leaned against the counter and gave him a strange look. "Are you feeling alright?" She crossed her arms. "If I'm not mistaken, you were scrambling to get away from me because you had a boner and now you're all 'you look great' and hugging me."

Rogue shrugged.

Yukino threw her hands in the air. "You're not helping!" She said exasperatedly, causing Rogue to laugh.

Yukino stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. "What is this? Who are-" She sneezed. "you and what have-" She sneezed again. "you done with-" She sneezed a third time. "Rogue?"

Rogue grabbed a paper towel off the roll in front of him and held it out for Yukino. "I think you might be sick."

Yukino shook her head. "No, I'm fine. It's probably allergies," she said after blowing her nose.

Rogue stood up and looked at paper towel. It was green.

"See this," he pointed to the napkin as he took it away from her. "Green means you're sick."

"It does not. And how would you know, _Mr. know-it-all-doctor_?" She mocked and tried to grab the paper towel back from him so she could throw it away. He held it above her reach so she tried to get it by jumping. "Give it back before I sneeze inside your mouth!"

"Gross." Rogue handed her the napkin and shook his head.

"Exactly." She tossed it into the trash and sniffled.

Rogue grimaced.

"Don't give me that look." She said sarcastically.

"What look?" He decided to play along.

"That look," she pointed to his face and sat down in the stool beside his.

"My face?" He asked. "That's harsh." He sat down beside her and forked a bacon onto her plate for her.

"Not as harsh as that look."

Rogue chuckled. "Alright, you win. Now, eat. And then it's back to bed."

Yukino's eyes widened. "What? Why? I'm not that sick and besides, I have to go to work at ten," she swallowed the piece of bacon in her mouth.

"You are most certainly not going to work sick! Wait, where do you work?"

"I'm a waitress."

"Then call in sick."

"No."

"Yes."

" _No._ "

" _Yes._ "

"I am not having this conversation." Yukino held up her hand to him and took another bite of her bacon.

"You're not going to work sick." Rogue said more harshly than he desired.

Yukino closed the gap between her hand and his mouth. She glanced up at him and tried not to laugh.

Rogue closed his eyes and laughed against her hand. He grabbed her hand with his and lowered it away from his face. "You're still not going to work."

"Yes, I am." She giggled and stood up, carrying both their plates to the sink and running water over them.

"I will call in sick for you if you won't."

"Right," she rolled her eyes and turned off the water. "You don't even know the number."

Rogue picked her up from behind and laid her across his shoulder.

Yukino screamed. "Put me down this instant!"

"Nope." He said smoothly as he carried her out of the kitchen.

"Put me down!"

"Not until you call in sick."

"Fine! Fine! I'll call in sick, just put me down!" She hit his back.

Rogue pushed the door to her bedroom open with his foot and set her down in front of her bed. He grabbed her phone off the dresser and held it out for her, "Call. Now."

Yukino glared at him but took the phone anyways. She scrolled through her contacts until she found her work number and called.

Roufus, the cook and the manager of the restaurant she worked at, was the one who picked up the phone.

"This is SavorFood, would you like to order from our take out menu or would you like to place an order for pickup?"

"Roufus? You sound stressed." Yukino sat down on her bed, Rogue sitting beside her.

"Yukino! I'm glad to hear your voice. The place is packed and I need to know if you can come in early?" He yelled something in the background but the phone cut out before she could hear what he said.

"Early? How early? Like, now?" Yukino held her breath and could practically feel Rogue tense beside her.

"I was hoping... Is that a problem?" He asked.

"No." Rogue grabbed her arm and glared at her. "I mean yes. I was calling in sick actually. I've caught the cold or something."

"Calling in sick? Damn..." The phone cut out.

"I'm so sorry. I can work extra hours when I'm better, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I hope you get better soon. Bye, honey."

"Honey?" Rogue asked with one eyebrow raised.

"I think he's gay." Yukino responded and clicked her phone off.

Rogue mouthed 'oh' and nodded. He laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just... A gay guy in charge of a restaurant. What more could you ask for?"

Yukino shook her head and frowned.

"I know, I'm sorry," Rogue sighed. "Was he mad?"

"No, not really. He wanted me to come in because of rush hour, but he'll forgive me." She shrugged.

"Yes, because you're sick and in bed." Rogue smirked.

"Only if you can catch me!" She giggled as she hurried out her bedroom.

"What am I going to do with you?" Rogue asked sarcastically as he sped after her, finally cornering her in the laundry room on the other side of the house.

"No, no, no! I'll never go with you!" She screeched and pressed herself into the corner.

"You're basically begging me to carry you then," he leaned against the doorframe and pretended to look at his nails.

"Never!" She laughed.

"If you insist." Rogue shrugged and sighed. He bent down far enough so that he could hook one arm around her legs and held her tightly to him with the other.

"Unhand me!" She squealed and kicked her legs, pretending to try and break free from his hold. She didn't, though.

"Could you not? Squealing in my ear hurts." He tossed her onto the bed and rubbed his ears to prove his point.

"I wasn't that loud." She pouted.

"Oh, yes, you were that loud." Rogue assured her.

"Was not!" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Was too!" He replicated her expression.

"Fine then, be that way." Yukino crossed her arms and turned away from him.

Rogue rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed.

A few minutes of silence passed before Yukino couldn't take anymore. "I guess I do feel a little stuffy," she admitted and laid back on her pillow, remembering how she had woken that morning. She smiled.

Rogue nodded. "Do you have any cold medicine?"

"I don't think so..." She put her hands behind her head and looked over at him. "Hey!" She shot up. "We could go to the store and buy some!"

Rogue glared at her. "If something need bought, I will go get it. _You_ are staying right there."

Yukino threw herself back against the bed. "You're unreasonable."

" _I'm_ unreasonable? Please," he crossed his arms and flipped his hair out of his face. "If anyone's being unreasonable, it's you. First of all, you're sick, and I know it may not be bad right now, but if you don't take something for it, you will wish you had. Second of all, what if someone from work sees you at the store? They'll probably think you're skipping work or something."

Yukino processed his statement and sighed. "Fine. You go to the store and buy the cold medicine."

"Thank you." Rogue uncrossed his arms and stood up.

"The store should be about two blocks from here. You go to the end of the road and turn right then it's the second left after that. It's right beside the train tracks so if you don't see them, you went the wrong way."

 _The train tracks..._ , Rogue thought. "Okay. I'll be back in a minute." He walked to the door.

"Oh! One more thing!"

Rogue stopped and looked at her, his hand holding the door open.

"Be careful... and don't wreck my car, _Mr. Overprotective._ " The first part of her sentence sounded concerned, but the last bit was mocking. She held out a twenty dollar bill for him to pay for the medicine.

Rogue nodded and took the money none the less.

He grabbed her car keys off the table in her living room and looked at himself in the mirror just before he slid out the door. His midnight black hair was covering half of his face as usual and it was the least bit shiny. He had to thank Yukino's shampoo for that.

Yukino watched through her bedroom window as he climbed into her car and pulled away. She sighed as the car vanished from her sight.

Rogue, on the other hand, was having trouble concentrating on the road. His mind was filled with Yukino's depressing notebook and the train tracks.

He decided that since the drug store was supposedly right beside the train tracks, he would stop by and see them for himself.

The drug store was small. Not too small, but enough that it gave off the vibe of 'cozy.' Rogue could see the train tracks with a few stationary trains only a short distance behind the quaint little drug store.

Rogue was taller than the tops of the shelves and the walls were an unsettling shade of orange. There was an older woman sitting behind the counter with her legs crossed, reading a magazine. He idly wondered how long she had been like that.

He hurriedly found the section marked Cold Medicine and picked a bottle of red liquid. Yukino didn't seem like an 'orange' kind of person, so he grabbed cherry for her instead, hoping he was right. He didn't want to get yelled at again. Much less since she was sick.

He paid for two bottles and left the store, putting the bag in the passenger seat and shutting the door.

Rogue locked the car and proceeded to walk along the wall of the store until he was completely behind it. He walked across a small field of dead grass, his hands shoved into the pockets of his sweat pants. He stopped at the edge of the tracks and looked both ways, nothing but tracks as far as he could see either way.

It was, in a way, comforting, but depressing at the same time. Or maybe it was because he was trying to picture Yukino standing beside him, debating with herself whether or not to just lay down on the tracks and wait.

That was the worst of it. Imagining her in a place where she could be debating her own life.

It was absolutely devastating.


	7. Chapter 7

**(A/N: I'm just going to warn you now that, even though I am two weeks late on writing/uploading this, this is going to be an extremely short chapter due to the fact I overstepped last chapter's guidelines. I have this entire story mapped out so I know exactly how this story is going to end, as well as how its going to get there. But, (theres always a but) in last chapter, I kind of wrote half of what was supposed to be in this chapter.**

 **This chapter is soley filler and excruciatingly short for the amount of time I have waited to write/upload this. I have also thought of just making this chapter eight, though, if I did, I would have to change all the chapters, and with school taking up most of my time and homework and reading book for school taking up the rest, I have very little time to do much of anything I want to. I have it pre-planned that I will update (hopefully, if there are no interruptions) every two weeks.**

 **Gomen.)**

Yukino splashed water on her face for what felt like the hundreth time today. It's been two days since Rogue told her she had a cold and - fuck - he'd been right.

She felt like shit. Or, more accurately, a stuffed up, cranky, lathargic pile of shit; the very scum or the earth. Yes. That was what she felt like.

Rogue knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you done yet? You need to get back to bed."

Yukino felt like screaming at him, but ultimately decided not to, because it would most likely sound like the meatball from that one TV show she always saw on late night television. What was it called? _Aqua Force_? _Hunger Team_? Her head pounded why she tried to think.

She opened the door slowly and turned off the light, trudging back to her room, completely ingnoring Rogue as he followed her. She laid down on top of the covers and shivered.

"You should cover up." He said emotionlessly.

" _You_ should cover up." Yukino sniffed and turned on her side, her back to Rogue.

Rogue rolled his eyes and pulled the blanket from beneath her with - to Rogues great annoyance - no cooperation from her.

"Could you at least pretend you're trying to help?" Rogue covered her.

"I didn't ask you to do this." She bit her tongue. He had done nothing but hound her about staying in bad and taking her medicine on time for the past two days. She didn't mind it at first - in fact she quite enjoyed it - but now he was just annoying.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Watching me. Making sure I take the medicine. Forcing me into bed. Just never leaving me alone. I swear, the only rest I get is when you're asleep!" She glared over her shoulder at him.

"I am not." Rogue stared at her like she was psychotic. He might have been hovering a little bit, but what she made it sound like was he was forcing the medicine down her throat and holding her down in the bed.

 _Holding her down in the bed..._ Rogue smirked and shook his head.

"Yes, you are." Yukinos eyes were wide and she was nodding slowly. Surely he must be stupid.

"No. I'm not." He stared at her impassivly.

"You are." She tuned back over and pulled the blanket over her head.

"Hn." Rogue grabbed the book Yukino had loaned to him a day earlier off the bedside table and picked up where he left off. "Just go to sleep."

Yukino didn't quite hear the last bit before drifting into a stuffy, warm sleep.

...

Her clock flashed 2:53 repeatedly.

She heard a faint snoring and rolled over in her sleep so her nose was almost touching Rogues shoulder. Her eyes were still closed and she took a deep, relaxing breath in.

A bright light flashed in the room and was almost immediately followed with a loud, earsplitting crash.

Yukino all but screamed, waking Rogue with panic and covering herself completely in the blanket she had kicked off sometime in her sleep.

"Yukino, Yukino?!" Rogue flicked his eyes back and fourth in the pitch black room as he sat up. His hand immediately reached beside him and found her shaking form. "Yukino?" He asked in a quiet, hoarse voice.

Yukino wimpered and pulled her legs up to her chest. If she had only one crippling fear, it was thunder and lightning.

"You're shaking." Rogue pointed out the obvious. "What happened?"

Another flash of light and loud crash made her curl into herself tighter. "T-the thunder," she whispered panicked, her voice barely audible over the considerably light rain for the magnitude of thunder and lightning happeing outside.

"You're afraid of thunder?" Rogue asked in disbelief.

Yukino could only nod, hoping that he would somehow feel it.

 **Bright light...**

 **Crash!**

Rolling onto his side, Rogue found Yukino's hand somewhere under the cover and squeezed it.

She shuffled her position and snuggled up to him. Somehow his warmth, or perhaps it was just the fact that it was him, she stopped shaking. Well, she wasn't shaking as bad now.

"You're freezing." Rogue shivered against her icy form.

"S-sorry."

"It's fine. Come here." He reached over and rubbed up and down her arm, trying to create friction.

"T-thanks." She chattered.

Hours of freezing rain and relentless thuder and lightning must have passed before Yukino was able to fall back asleep.

Rogue stayed awake the entire time, as well, watching her carefully, making sure she retained her warmth and stayed close to him.

He didn't know why, but his presence seemed to still her. He was nothing special, nothing at all like that. But if he could help her, he was fine with just that. His mind wandered back to the train tracks and the haunting thought of her laying on them.

A twisting feeling pulled at the bottom of his stomach, and for a second he thought he might even have to use the bathroom. But it was just the sickening thought of her getting run over.

All the blood...

All the tears...

The unrelenting silence...

Just like...

 _Her._


	8. Chapter 8

Rogue closed the book he was reading to try and forget about the night before and sighed. He couldn't stop his thoughts of Yukino at the tracks. About the time he had been and how those few minutes he was there changed his life forever. Forced him out of his house. Forced him out of his head.

Yukino was taking forever in the bathroom and he _really needed to go._ "Yukino...!" Rogue groaned, shaking his head, his hair falling over his eyes.

"Gimme' a sec!" She shouted through the door.

"Yukino I really have to..." He wasn't sure how to phrase it. Sure they were close but were they close enough to be talking about reasons he needed to use the bathroom?

Rogue didn't think so. In reality, they'ed only met just over a week ago. Although, he was pretty sure Yukino might not. He'd already overstepped too many boundaries to count.

"I know, I know! I'm hurrying!" Yukino was working as fast as she could, but being on her period wasn't exactly helping. She hastily put on a fresh pad and stood up, flushed the toilet, making sure not to look as it went down, and promptly washer her hands. She hated her body with a burning passion at this specific moment.

"Fuck," she mumbled. "why does life always have to do this too me?" First the cold and now this. Yukino was sure she was being punished.

 _Punished for being happy..._

Rogue knocked on the bathroom door again, but just as he was going for a third, Yukino opened the door. "Oh thank god." He rushed in and shut the door behind him, catching Yukino's backside with a muffled thump.

Yukino shook her head, ridding herself of her self destructive thoughts at the sight and overall humor of the moment. _Men._

She walked into her bedroom and locked the door. Today was her first day back to work and to say she'd had a hectic morning was an understatement.

First it had been the breakfast, which in Yukino's opinion, wouldn't have been that big of a deal if Rogue hadn't decided to swear off french toast. How **stupid** could you be to not eat that?! It had to be her absolute perfect, especially when it was done a certain way.

 _"It gives me indigestion," He said,_ and _"It gives me heartburn."_ leaving Yukino to wonder just what the hell kind of french toast he'd been eating. So she decided to take it upon herself and make it right between him and french toast...

Bad idea. If Yukino could somehow acquire a time machine and go back to that morning, she would kick herself. No seriously. Because now Rogue was in the bathroom doing god knows what.

 _Gross._ Her lips curled down and she squeezed her eyes tight, making a mental note to buy air freshener when she came home today. She walked into her closet and reached for her work uniform; a navy blue T-shirt with neon yellow bubble letters that spelled 'SavorFood' with a matching navy blue skirt that just reached her knees. Sleek and fresh, but not too prude.

She shimmied out of her lavender purple cotton t-shirt and jet black yoga pants, and pulled on her uniform. She wanted to put on make-up but it was on the bathroom sink, instead deciding on working on her hair in front of her bedroom mirror in the meantime.

Yukino had her bleach blond, nearly white, hair up into eight heat curlers by the time Rogue finally decided to leave the bathroom, limping in a way that could only mean one thing.

Poop. And from what Yukino could see, it had been _bad._

"Sorry," he mumbled as he hobbled into her bedroom and sat down, noticeably slowly, onto her bed. He shifted from leaning from side to side for several minutes just watching her put the remainder of her hair into the curlers, which wouldn't seem like much since her hair was only down to her jaw, but really it was quite thick. "Having problems?"

Yukino shook her head, "Nope." She glanced over at him and messed up the curler she was holding, "Well, maybe now I am. I just need to get this one and one more in and _then_ I can do my make-up. Which reminds me," she held her hand on her head firmly, not wanting any more of her curlers to come undone, "Could you go get that off my bathroom sink?"

"What, are you're legs not working?" Rogue taunted. "Get them yourself."

"What's your problem?" she frowned. He had been acting so nice lately. What had changed?

Rogue shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He stood from his seat on the bed and left the room.

"You'd better be getting my make-up!" she called down the hall, and no later than 10 seconds he came back in the room with her mascara and eyeliner.

"Is this it?" he asked, holding it out for her to see. She nodded, a slight tinge of pink collecting on her cheeks. She grabbed the make-up out of his hand and layed it down on the dresser in front of her, fumbling with yet another of her curlers, prompting Rogue to say something instead of continuing to stand there awkwardly staring at her. "Do you want some help?"

"No, no. I can handle this," she assured him, her fingernail getting caught in the curler and burning her fingertip, "Ah! Shit!" She cursed quietly while Rogue snickered.

He raised his hands to the top of her head and rolled her hair evenly into the curler with ease, clasping it together before picking up one after another and repeating the process until all of her hair was secured neatly in the curlers. "You know you could just use a curling iron, right?"

"Not my thing." She shrugged. "You know, for a guy, you act pretty girly. Doing hair and stuff." Yukino teased, popping the cap to her eyeliner off and leaning in close to the mirror, rubbing a thin, neat line onto both of her top lids. Proud of her work, she grinned and admired it in the mirror.

Rogue rolled his eyes, shuffling over to her closet to find something to change into. Since he had been wearing the same clothes for the past three days, he wasn't in the best conditions of personal hygiene. "Do you have any clothes I can change into? Possibly take a shower?" he suggested, thumbing through her mixed closet arrangements.

"Well," Yukino took in a deep breath, her air passages gloriously clear, "There's the stuff you wore to meet Sting in, that's clean," she looked over her shoulder to find him missing, but she was sure she heard his voice behind her just a second ago... "Rogue?" she called out, confused.

Rogue leaned halfway out fo the closet to see what she needed, "Hm?"

Yukino sighed, bewildered at how she could not realize he was in the closet. _Hes looking for clothes, stupid, of course hes going to be in the closet._ "There you are. Okay, um, so as I was saying, the-" she was about to restate her possible solution but was cut off by him.

"Yea, yea. The outfit I met Sting in is clean. Anything else? Anything not so _tight?_ " He emphasized on the word tight, wanting her to understand just how damn _uncomfortable_ those felt, especially when you have a boner, thought he didn't expect her to understand that last bit, he still cringed at the thought.

"I have sweatpants," she suggested, "They might be a bit girlish but I think you could rock the girly look." Yukino winked at him and laughed, nearly falling on the floor when Rogue all but deflated like a popped balloon.

"They're not pink though, right?" he asked, praying internally that they were any color but pink. _Any color. Any color but pink._

"No, they're not, they're not pink." She had to repeat her sentence because of her lingering giggles. "They are dark blue but they say peace in light purple on the left leg." Yukino turned back to the mirror to brush on her mascara to finish her look for the day.

Rogue weighed his options, which were basically nill since he would honestly rather wear pink sweat pants than those atrocities she'd given him before. "That'll work," he grumbled. He could put up with purple, but he sure as hell wasn't going to like it.

Yukino left her bedroom after giving him the pants and one of her over-sized night shirts. She walked into her living room and checked the digital clock resting on the polished wooden stand beside the door. She noted that she still had about twenty minutes before she really needed to be there. She wanted to get in early, though, to make up for her sick days.

She grabbed her purse, making sure her keys were in the side. She pulled out her chocolate strawberry perfume and sprayed the air in front of her and walked through it. Satisfied, she turned, "I'm leaving now," she called out. She idly wondered if she trusted him just a hair too much for having just met him.

She dismissed the thought. She felt connected to him in some way she couldn't explain. She trusted him. A question she forgot to ask him popped into her head at that moment, and she decided she'd ask him when she got home, hoping her felt the same kind of unexplainable connection.

From her bedroom she heard Rogues voice call back to her, "Bye."

Sighing, Yukino walked out the door and closed it behind her.

Rogue walked into her living room, and looked around, unsettled by the silence once he heard he car back out of her driveway and pull away. It made him uneasy, and his throat did this unusual tingling thing. He swallowed.

For a moment, he thought about leaving, and how now would be the perfect time. She wouldn't be back for hours. He could probably make it out of the city and halfway to the next before her shift was up, according to how long she told him she usually works.

He couldn't decide if he was leaving or not, but he threw on his jacket and walked out the door and down the street before he could stop himself. He watched as the occasional car passed him, the driver eyeing him strangely each time.

He walked and walked until he realized he didn't know where he was. The cars were more frequent now, so at least he could tell he was getting closer to the center of the city. He resisted the urge to hold out his thumb, surprised at how much effort it took. It felt so natural now for him to be walking away, leaving everything behind him, not paying attention to where he was going as long as it was far, far away from _her._

He hadn't yet found a way to deal with everything that'd happened. How could there possibly be a way to live, really live, when she wasn't anymore. The sun's light was dimmer somehow, and the world was darker, colder without her.

The thought crossed his mind to just walk out into the busy road just to see if anyone would stop. Or would they keep going? Hit him without caring and without mercy. Rogue couldn't decided which scenario was the better one; the both looked about the same to him.

When he emerged from his reverie, he realized he was standing across the road from the park Yukino had taken him to not a week earlier. Rogue crossed the road, barely looking to see if there was any traffic. When he crossed from the pavement onto the grass he felt strangely calm just standing still, something he hadn't felt since before... for a very long time.

The breeze ran through his jacket and hair, sending chills through his body. Why hadn't he been paying attention to where he was going? Was he even going back? He stared out over the expansive lake.

"Rogue?" He heard Sting's voice beside him. Rogue turned his head and saw Sting and a black haired woman approaching him.

"Sting." Rogue greeted curtly. He didn't know the woman.

"This is Rogue, Yukino's, um, " he paused, "Friend." He finished, a bit uncomfortably. The woman nodded her understanding but didn't speak.

"This is Minerva." Sting explained to Rogue. "What brings you to Nelson park at," he looked down at his watch, "Ten thirty in the morning?"

"I needed some fresh air." Rogue said truthfully. "I've been cramped up in her house for days."

"You and Yukino live together?" Minerva asked, her voice more assertive for someone he thought quiet.

Rogue stayed silent. He didn't _live_ there, did he? Of course not, he was just passing through, like always. "Not really," he shrugged.

The look on Sting's face was skeptical.

"I mean," Rogue began correcting himself, "I'm only staying with her for a little while."

Judging by their reactions, he'd only made it worse.

Rogue hated talking to people, he decided that moment.

"Hey Minerva, why don't you go on ahead, I'll catch up with you." Sting suggested.

Minerva's eyes quickly glanced between them, "Alright," she mumbled, and took a few steps down the sidewalk before breaking into a steady jog.

Sting watched her for a second too long, then looked back over at Rogue.

Rogue, having noticed Sting's lingering gaze on the back side of his jogging partner, huffed, but didn't say anything. It was better to be quiet. Better to disappear. He could feel the questions coming.

"You're not leaving, are you?" The question tumbled forth from Sting, unable to hold it back. He'd meant to be more subtle, but really, what was the point?

Rogue forced his eyes away from Sting's, out over the water once again, the early sun's reflection off the water blinding him. He didn't know how to answer. He wasn't sure if he was or not.

Sting hesitated. "You can't just leave like that."

Rogue looked over at him challenging-ly. He very well could. He could right now.

"I mean," Sting rose his hands, "She _likes_ you. I can see it."

It took nearly everything Rogue had not to roll his eyes. "Haven't you already said that?"

"Still," Sting gestured. "Besides," he looked Rogue up and down, "I'm willing to bet money that those are hers." He said, referring to the blue and light purple sweats. "And you wouldn't really be that much of a dick to take off in her clothes, would you?" Sting crossed his arms.

Rogue slumped. Sting was right. He couldn't just leave without his pants. He'd completely forgotten he wasn't wearing his usual black, ripped jeans. But if he could just find his way back and get them, dirty or not...

"That's what I thought." Sting said, triumphant.

There was silence for a moment, and Rogue grew tremendously uncomfortable. "Shouldn't you, um, go catch up with your girlfriend?"

Sting chuckled, "She's not my girlfriend."

Rogues eyebrows drew together. He was just about to say something when Sting interrupted.

"Not yet, anyways."

Rogue didn't know what to say. How was he supposed to react? He'd only just met him a few days ago, and Minerva a few minutes. "Okay," was all he could think of.

"So anyways, while you're here, I was, um, meaning to ask you something." Sting started, but didn't finish until Rogue acknowledged him. "I actually meant to ask the other day, but how is everyone? Back in Lancaster, I mean."

Rogue hesitated. Did Sting know?

"Last time I talked to Lector was a few months after I moved here. That must have been about a year ago now," Sting turned to stand beside Rogue, his eyes also looking out at the water.

Rogue still didn't speak. He wondered if he even could.

Sting looked at hims sideways, waiting.

"He's fine." Was all Rogue could muster. He wondered if Lector really was fine. He hadn't spoken to him in a year and a half. After the... the accident, Rogue couldn't even stand to look at him, let alone talk. A few months later he'd found himself packing a small dufflebag of clothes and money and walking right out the door. That'd been nearly a year ago.

"Rogue?" Sting's voice faded back in. "Rogue?"

"Yeah? What" Rogue asked, still treading in his memories.

"You kinda went blank there for a moment." Sting arched his left eyebrow. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Rogue answered. "Just fine."

"So?" Sting prompted.

Rogue paused. "What?"

"I asked if you have his number with you." The expression on his face was more concerned than impatient. Rogue thought he'd rather prefer impatiences to this. He couldn't deal with anyone else worrying about him.

Rogue nodded silently. He waited several moments for Sting to hand over his phone so he could put in the number. "Here," he handed back the phone, "Um, I'm not sure if that's still his number or not so," He never attempted to finish his sentence. He shuffled inside his jacket, unsure of what Sing's next question would be.

The question never came. They must have stood there for several minutes before the silence was broken by Sting. "So hey, thanks for his number. I can't wait to catch up. I, um, gotta go now though or Minerva'll beat me to a pulp," he laughed.

Rogue glanced at him, "Sure." He toed the grass beneath him, a small patch of dirt revealing itself.

Rogue turned before Sting could, and began walking once again. All Sting could do was watch as he walked away and hope that, for Yukino, it wasn't the last time he'd see him.

Yukino was exhausted by the time the end of her shift came around. It was nearly nine thirty, and she could feel the bottoms of her feet throbbing in the two inch heals she was required to wear. SavorFood was by far not the fanciest restaurant someone could choose to eat at in her city, but it surely wasn't the dingiest either.

She replaced her attendance card in her assigned slot, and told Roufus to have a goodnight on her way out and practically sprang out of the heels when the door shut behind her. She picked them up and carried them to her car, digging in her purse for her keys. The freezing air felt nice on her clammy skin, and the freezing pavement was exquisite on her aching feet.

She lifted her head to find the key hole in her car door, suddenly hyper-aware of how dark the parking lot really was at this time of night. Even though she'd never been approached by a single sketchy person in the city of Decatur, Illinois, because of her sisters abduction, she had a paralyzing fear of what and who could be hiding in the dark just waiting to snatch her.

She quickly turned her key in the lock, her movements becoming more frantic as she was sure something was only seconds away from grabbing her. She slammed the door and locked the car, her breathing rapid. She calmed down enough to turn the car on and run the heat, then thought better of it.

Yukino pulled out of SavorFood's parking lot, rolling down the front windows just a crack and relishing in the cold air they allowed. She felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her when she remembered Rogue was waiting for her to get home. She wondered what he'd done all day to occupy himself. She blushed at a few select thoughts and smiled at others. Yukino couldn't wait to get home.

She only lived about ten minutes away from her work, but in this moment, ten minutes felt like an eternity. It was silly and wasn't logical in the least, but she was so giddy to see him again even though she'd only recently met him.

How crazy was it that in just a few days she'd gone from someone who was afraid to get close to literally anyone, even someone to break off relationships because they were afraid of getting too deep, to someone who looked forward to seeing someone, not caring if they were getting in over their head. Of course she cared about getting in too deep still, but she didn't feel the need to guard herself around Rogue. With him, she felt strangely free.

As Yukino pulled into her driveway, the first thing she noticed was that living room lights were not on. He had to be in the bathroom, she thought and bounced out of her car. She thrust her key into the lock and turned, opening the door in record time. "I'm home!" She called and waited for his return call.

And waited.

Yukino frowned. "Rogue?" She called, her voice less buoyant. She took a step towards the hall.

Could he be... Gone?

Yukino stopped, frozen.

Please no.

"Rogue?" Her voice was so small now, she wasn't sure anyone could have heard it. He had to be sleeping. Yeah, that had to be it. She took hesitant, light steps down the hall, noting that he definitely wasn't in the bathroom. She stopped outside her closed bedroom door. Could she bear to find him not in this room?

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as her hand found the doorknob and turned it slowly. She opened the door to a pitch black, deathly silent room. The throb in the bottoms of her feet were forgotten as the palpable throb in her chest quickly overtook every other sensation. Her stomach twisted.

"Rogue?" she whispered. Her fingers flipped the light switch and illuminated the empty room, save for her blue sweatpants neatly folded on the foot of her bed.

No tears sprang to her eyes.

She didn't run to the bathroom and hurl.

She didn't move.

A hole drilled in her, sure. But somehow she felt like she deserved this. She had been so exuberantly happy this last week, this is obviously how she was to be brought down. She turned like a puppet and walked back into her living room. She couldn't sleep this night if she tried. The only thing that would put her to sleep were pills.

She couldn't go out and look for him in the middle of the night, it was just mad. She'd never find him, dressed in all black on the side of the road with his thumb in the air. Not in a city like this. By now he'd probably be in Peoria. Hell, if he'd left right after her this morning, he could be all the way to Indiana or Missouri if someone had picked him up.

Oh god, she thought, what if he was kidnapped or worse? Yukino had heard stories on the news all the time about hitchhiker disappearances, rapes, murders... She couldn't stand the thought. How had he managed to not become one of those victims when he was hitchhiking before?

She felt so helpless and so small, sitting there at her kitchen island, a cup of water in her hand and insomnia medication in the other. She turned to look at the door one last time, dropped the pills into her mouth and swallowed them. Two should be enough to help her sleep.

Yukino stood up and poured the remainder of her water in the kitchen sink, despondent. She flicked off the light as she left the room and flipped on the bathroom one as she entered it. She ran warm water and rubbed her makeup off with a small brown towel. She remembered she needed to change her pad again before she went to bed and hurried through the process, already starting to feel the pills kicking in.

It was a good thing she had the day off tomorrow because Yukino was sure she wasn't going to wake up for a good fifteen hours. That was just fine by her.

She grabbed her phone out of her purse on the dresser and was just about to dial Sting when she thought better of if. He probably wouldn't care anyway. Or he might even tell her something like he knew he would do something like that, or that she didn't even really know him. Which was true, she supposed, but she just felt like she did.

She felt like she knew him better than that, at the very least.

Yukino turned on the lamp on her bedside table and turned the overhead off, clicking on the TV to some infomercial and turning the volume so low she couldn't hear it. She covered herself in her beige comforter and curled herself into a pathetic ball.


End file.
